Netherlands: A firstful day
August 26, 2009 Wednesday
Today was a day of many firsts. After sampling some Dutch soy sausage stuff (a distinctly odd first, although not untasty) at breakfast, we had class. Post-academia, I led a group of about four people to the nearby park where I pretended to be a yoga teacher for about an hour. Despite doing yoga nearly every day for seven months, plus taking a year of yoga in high school as my P.E. (Yes, my high school was basically awesome. Don’t hate me.), this was the first time I’d ever led a class and it was terribly fun if a bit nerve-wracking. It definitely tested me on my ability to tell left from right, which has never in my life been a strong point. Everyone seemed really positive and enthusiastic though, so that was awesome.
Afterward, a few of us had yet to rent our bikes from the local bike rental place, so we went back to the hotel, showered, and then headed over to Rotterdam Central. After handing over a deposit of 80 euros (I really need to get more cash), we walked out with gigantic Dutch bicycles, each weighing approximately two tons, with no gear shifts and pedal brakes. And then we rode them home. It was lovely – I’ve been scared off of riding bikes since I was about eight years old (there was one devastating attempt in Boston when I managed to run into a pedestrian and two other stationary objects, as well as get yelled at by a substantial number of drivers, which to be fair may have been entirely deserved). And no, I didn’t wear a helmet. Nobody does here. The Dutch either have a very enlightened approach to bicycle safety (rules of the road seem to consist entirely of “Bikes do whatever they want; other stuff gets out of their way.”) or a very foolhardy one; I’ve already seen a young mother toting no less than three children in a front-loaded babybucket and helmets are entirely unheard of. Bikes do get their own lanes, which is pretty sweet and solves the yelling-drivers problem handily. Tomorrow most of us are heading over to Delft to do…stuff. I don’t think anyone’s sorted that part out yet. It’ll be fun though.
We made it back to the hotel with barely time to spare to make it to the Pancake Boat. This is exactly what it sounds like – a boat, filled with pancakes. To be honest, I found it a little mediocre; some of the dentistry was terrifying and the pancakes were acceptable. The lack of whipped cream (“slagroom”) was inexplicable. The shredded cheese was a bit on the stale side, and the large chunks of candied ginger (and I do mean large, half an inch to a side) were…again, inexplicable. Still, it was a fairly charming way to view the harbor and see some more of Rotterdam.
While most of the group proceeded on to a nearby watering hole, I headed up to my room; my voice is basically shot between the asthma/allergies/bronchial flare-up and the talking/leading yoga. I booked my flight to Copenhagen (wheeee!) but I still need to get my hotel room sorted out. Time enough for that tomorrow, I expect.
Yes, tomorrow! To Delft!